BackgroundData on the health status of the Roma people in Central and Eastern Europe are sparse and the reasons for their poor health are not clear. The objective of this study was to quantify the differences in birth outcomes between Roma and non-Roma mothers in the Czech Republic and to investigate the potential causes of such differences.

MethodA population-based study recruited 8938 non-Roma and 1388 Roma hospitalised singleton births that occurred in two Czech districts Teplice and Prachatice between 1995 and 2004. During their stay in hospital, mothers completed a questionnaire on their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and maternal smoking and alcohol consumption. Data on maternal height and weight and on infants- birth weight and gestational age were taken from hospital records.